Peace With God

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1-2)

The traditional approach to Romans is to divide it into four sections— 1) chapters 1-4 on justification, 2) chapters 5-8 on sanctification, 3) chapters 9-11 God’s dealings with the Jews, 4) chapters 12-16 practical matters. I agree with F. Godet, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and James Montgomery Boice that what Paul is really presenting in Romans 5:1-11 is the beginning of a well-developed statement on the security in Christ that comes to a believer as a result of their justification.

Verses 1 & 2 of chapter 5 are one sentence in the Greek. Paul starts with “Having been justified by faith” and ends with “rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. The “hope of the glory of God” is glorification. Paul does the same thing in Romans 8:30 “And those He predestined He also called; those He called, He also glorified”. Justification then glorification. Paul is saying if you have been justified then you will be glorified. The implication is that if you are going to be glorified then you will be sanctified. Paul’s primary concern is to show the absolute character, the fullness and the finality of the believers salvation that is the result of justification.

Most Christians have grown up in churches where the main emphasis was on sanctification and have never been taught justification by faith alone (they equate it only to the new birth and think "I’ve got that let’s move on"). As a result they live in fear and uncertainty about their relationship with God and whether or not they will make it to heaven. The Gospel has been reduced to: Jesus saves you and one day He will take you to heaven. But until He does it’s going to take your best effort, your going to have to really try to be sanctified, you will never have real assurance because it all depends on your performance and we the church will load you up with a list of rules, a list of do’s and don’ts to insure you will make it— if you do all these things. Because of the failure to understand justification they live without the peace of God.